It's Time
by Maomaoyu
Summary: Bumblebee finally understands what Optimus meant.


I **'m sorry for the long wait! I had some serious writer's block halfway through this. But here it is it all its finished glory! I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or _Imagine Dragon_ 's "It's Time."**

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Bumblebee stifled a yawn behind his servo before stretching his arms to try to work out some stiff joints. This whole leadership thing was still relatively new to him, but he had certainly made progress. Not including his (horrific) failed attempts at a rallying cry, the yellow mech had a pretty solid team. That is, if Strongarm and Sideswipe would stop fighting.

The lieutenant only sighed when he remembered the main cause for his tiredness. Sideswipe and Strongarm's constant scuffles were really starting to grate on his nerves, obscuring the team on missions and ruining the little break time they had. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, an Earth habit he had picked up, and slumped onto a crate.

Bumblebee had sent the two teens out on patrol as punishment for their behavior. While he was perfectly aware that it would probably worsen the problem, the yellow mech really couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. Maybe some alone time was what Strongarm and Sideswipe needed.

Speaking of, he had also been having some problems with the rest of the team. Denny and Fix-it had started to quarrel again, and while it wasn't as bad as Strongarm and Sideswipe, it was still great enough to annoy him. Poor Russel was caught in the middle, trying and failing to resolve the conflict. Drift was off doing his own thing and Grimlock…

Bumblebee tapped his chin. Grimlock…was Grimlock. He hadn't really done anything as of late. The lieutenant shrugged his shoulders; guess that was one less mech to worry about.

Despite that though, Bumblebee still had two younglings, two humans, and a minicon to stress over. Leadership… How in Pit did Optimus do it?!

He had recently received a visit from the said mech a megacycle or so back when he had played his guitar in the woods. Maybe that was what he needed to do now.

Strongarm and Sideswipe were out on patrol, Grimlock was in the woods (probably punching things), Russel and Denny had gone out for some "bonding time" at the movies, and Fix-it was working on a project in the Alchemor. Everyone seemed occupied at the moment. A quick session with his guitar couldn't hurt.

Standing up and reaching where he stashed his precious instrument, Bumblebee carefully pulled a case from its hiding place. Sitting back down and pulling the said instrument out, Bumblebee let his thoughts drift as he tuned it.

Back again on the leadership thing, Bumblebee seriously doubted that he could take much more of it. He shook his head, no time for that now, there was never time for self-pitying.

Strumming a few simple chords, Bumblebee started to hum before letting his vocals start to sing.

 _So this is what you meant_

 _When you said that you were spent_

 _And now it's time to build from the bottom of the pit_

 _Right to the top_

 _Don't hold back_

 _Packing my bags and giving the academy a rain-check_

 **Bumblebee watched as Smokescreen bounded away from the mech he had been conversing with moments before, a happy grin on his faceplates. He watched as Optimus smiled fondly at the retreating back of the racecar, before tiredly wringing his helm in one of his servos.**

 **Bumblebee found the sudden change of his leader's demeanor** odd, **and walked over to question the mech himself. Optimus looked up when he heard the questioning beep, but relaxed when he saw the familiar form of his scout.**

 **"What can I help you with, Bumblebee?"**

 **A series of chirps and warbles met his query, and the truck felt his expression soften.**

 **"Thank you for caring, Bee, but I do not think this is something I need to burden you with."**

 **An indignant beep came from the yellow mech's vocalizer, who shook his head vigorously before staring at his leader with definite optics.**

 **Optimus looked surprised at the response and only sighed.**

 **A softer and concerned warble accompanied the small servo that rested on the blue and red mech's own, and Optimus immediately felt all of his** resolve **crumble.**

 **He looked at Bumblebee, optic to optic, and the scout almost stumbled back when he saw just how tired they looked.**

 **"Leading is not the easiest thing to do Bumblebee. Sometimes, it catches up to me."**

 **The yellow mech only beeped in agreement, using it as a cover for his confusion. And even as he walked away from Optimus with one last squeeze to the larger blue servo, Bumblebee couldn't help but wonder how leading was hard. You were brave and noble, and then just ordered mechs around right?**

 **Right?**

 _I don't ever wanna let you down_

 _I don't ever wanna leave this town_

 _'Cause after all_

 _This city never sleeps at night_

 **Bumblebee sighed contently at the sight before him. The once barren wasteland had been replaced by large bustling city-states, built after the Great War's end. Mechs and femmes rushed about getting to work, and bots in their alt modes zoomed down the lanes.**

 **He had seen the dull gray lifeless version of Cybertron and now woke up every day to the rejuvenated one. Now that he had seen how amazing it was to have peacetime, Bumblebee couldn't help but want to keep it that way forever.**

 **The yellow mech smoothly collapsed into his alt mode, and started his routine patrol of Iacon's streets. Yes, he thought, he would make sure to keep the peace.**

 _It's time to begin, isn't it?_

 _I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit_

 _I'm just the same as I was_

 _Now don't you understand_

 _That I'm never changing who I am_

 **The first few weeks of Bumblebee's time back on Earth were an utter mess. He had already revealed himself to two humans right off the bat, and he had just gotten himself the additional stress of having to look after two rowdy younglings, a minicon, and a dinobot of all things. The team could barely be called that, and they had shown no skill so far in being able to work together.**

 **Progress was slow, but they eventually were able to form something akin to a team. Bumblebee himself had to overcome a few obstacles concerning his leadership. He always tried to act like Optimus, but he soon realized that that wasn't going to work. After all, he was not Optimus and they were not Team Prime.**

 **After that, the impromptu Decepticon wranglers were a full functioning team under Bumblebee's quirky but effective leadership.**

 ***Episode 6 "W.W.O.D.?"**

 _So this is where you fell_

 _And I am left to sell_

 _The path to heaven runs through miles of clouded hell_

 _Right to the top_

 _Don't look back_

 _Turning to rags and giving the commodities a rain-check_

 **Sighing, the lieutenant closed his eyes and slumped onto a box, a servo thrown over his eyes. Today's decepticon capture definitely could have gone better, and this was one of the moments where Bumblebee felt way older than he really was.**

 **A soft tap on his shoulder made him move his servo to glance at his side, where he saw familiar yellow faceplates.**

 **"Um, Bumblebee?"**

 **He sighed. "Yes, Grimlock?"**

 **The dinobot fiddled with his claws in what seemed to be a nervous fashion, before looking at the exhausted optics of his leader.**

 **"You looked really tired Bee. Like really tired. I wanted to give ya this."**

 **Bumblebee fully removed his servo from his faceplates and straightened, turning to face the larger mech. A small something was handed to him, and the yellow mech hesitantly received it into his servo.**

 **When he took a good look at the something, he cycled his optics, trying to see if his vision was deceiving him. In his servo he held a single pink rose, complete with velvet petals and jagged thorns that lined the sides of the green stem. It looked so fragile, but also so beautiful compared to Bumblebee's large gray servo.**

 **"…"**

 **Bumblebee didn't know what to say, and only continued to stare at the flower in his servo. It was just so bizarre to him. He had just had a terrible day and a bot who had gone through the same thing had been willing to pick him a flower of all things.**

 **"I-I know it's stupid, but-"**

 **"No Grim! Don't say that! I appreciate it. It's beautiful." Bumblebee was quickly snapped out of his trance by the green mech's stumbling words, which he quickly cut off.**

 **The lieutenant's expression only softened more when he still saw the small seed of doubt in the other's eyes and was quick to get rid of it.**

 **He reached out with his free servo and gently clasped the larger green one, smiling at the Dinobot.**

 **"Thank you Grimlock."**

 **The green mech visibly brightened and nodded, giving Bumblebee's servo a quick squeeze before hurrying away with a large grin on his face.**

 **Watching the other's retreating back, Bee looked at the rose still in his servo, mentally reminding himself to get a vase for it later.**

 **Only after placing the rose into its new home did Bumblebee realize how much happier he felt.**

 ***A pink rose represents gratitude, appreciation, and admiration.**

 _I don't ever wanna let you down_

 _I don't ever wanna leave this town_

 _'Cause after all_

 _This city never sleeps at night_

 _It's time to begin, isn't it?_

 _I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit_

 _I'm just the same as I was_

 _Now don't you understand_

 _That I'm never changing who I am_

 **He supposed that it made sense that he was the one who saw it. After all, he had gone through the same thing.**

 **When Grimlock had suddenly hit Sideswipe, Bumblebee knew something was wrong. Sure, Sideswipe did grate on everyone's nerves a bit…okay a lot, but his pestering and jabs never warranted a physical blow. Especially not from Grimlock. The green mech was very tolerant of any teasing, or was too ignorant to recognize it as such. He was the last person Bumblebee would ever have thought to lose his temper like that. One look into Grimlock's optics, and he had already gathered all the information he would ever need. He saw the internal fight in the dinobot's optics; he saw that he wasn't really in control of himself.**

 **He knew that look all too well. He had to stare at those optics, that weren't his, for the duration of when Megatron had been in his mind. Any reflective surface, no matter how slightly, always mocked him by showing him those optics, those foreign optics.**

 **So it made sense that Bumblebee saw Grimlock's internal fight before anyone else.**

 **After all, the optics were the windows to the spark.**

 _This road never looked so lonely_

 _This house doesn't burn down slowly_

 _To ashes, to ashes_

 **Bumblebee sighed. It was just one of those days. His team seemed to revert back to when they had started, with no sense of discipline or cooperation at all.**

 **Sideswipe and Strongarm argued whenever they had the chance and turned everything into a competition, Drift had drifted away from the team (ay yoh get it?... I'll show myself out.) and had become as distant as the first day he had arrived, Grimlock had ran off by himself to go take on the decepticon on his own during today's capture, and Fixit had taken a step back and started to argue with Denny again.**

 **He could honestly say that he missed it.**

 **He missed the days with Team Prime, missed the days where his biggest concerns were following orders, fighting decepticons and looking after Raf.**

 **Bumblebee missed Bulkhead, missed Wheeljack, missed Arcee, missed Smokescreen, missed Ratchet, missed Raf, missed Miko, missed Jack, missed Optimus.**

 **And he didn't have any one of them with him.**

 **Bumblebee groaned again and rubbed his optics. But then only sighed and tried to plaster on a smile.**

 **Life was life right? Can't have everything.**

 _It's time to begin, isn't it?_

 _I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit_

 _I'm just the same as I was_

 _Now don't you understand_

 _That I'm never changing who I am_

Bumblebee hummed along with the final note as it faded away, the various negative memories his processor had cycled through making his smile bitter and dry. He shook his helm and set down the guitar, laughing quietly to himself.

Oh he was pathetic. Here he was singing to himself and not even acting upon the things he was singing about.

"How much more pathetic can I get?"

The yellow bot threw a servo over his optics (he seemed to be doing that a lot lately) with full intentions to just sit there and wallow in hate.

A transparent servo hovered above Bumblebee's shoulder and was about to drop before it stopped short and fell back to the bot's side.

Sideswipe came roaring in, tires squealing as he slid to a stop and transformed, with Strongarm right on his tail. Grimlock wasn't too far behind; his thundering footsteps shaking the ground as he ran to catch up with the two others.

All three of them stalled to a stop in front of their lieutenant, who had stood up in surprise by their sudden appearance. Bumblebee mentally cursed himself for not finishing up earlier and hiding the guitar before the rest of the team came back. He noted the setting sun and gave himself another mental scolding for not keeping track of time.

"Oh, hey guys…back so soon?"

Bumblebee tried to discreetly nudge the guitar to the side with his pede.

"So soon? Lieutenant, the sun's about to set." Strongarm pointed out.

Bumblebee grit his denta together in frustration; he really wasn't in the mood for this. "Yes, I can see that Strongarm. I just got…caught up is all."

"What didja get so caught up on Bee?" Sideswipe asked.

"…just some work around the scrapyard, Denny needed help sorting some things."

The red and blue bots both raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but not before Grimlock butted in.

"I thought Denny already organized everythin' yesterday."

Bumblebee shot the dinobot a pointed look, but then just sighed in resignation.

"Okay so maybe I wasn't organizing things for Denny."

"So then what were ya doin'?"

Said bot in question just averted his eyes, "Well…it doesn't really matter now does it? What were you guys doing today anyway?"

Bumblebee knew that he was being terribly obvious, but at this point he just wanted to drag it out so he wouldn't have to face the inevitable shame so soon.

Strongarm just narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Come on Lieutenant, you're not even trying anymore."

Sideswipe put in his two cents. "Yeah, just spill already Bee!"

Bumblebee sat back down on the crate, and lifted his prized guitar by its neck. He held it gingerly in his lap, and looked back at his team's bewildered faces.

"This. This is what I was doing."

"Wow Bee, I didn't know you played the guitar!" Grimlock gave a look of admiration at his lieutenant.

"Why did you want to hide this so badly anyway, Lieutenant?" Strongarm asked.

"It's just-I don't-" Bumblebee growled in frustration and clutched his guitar closer to his chest.

"It's just kind of personal…"

Strongarm's expression softened, and she said in a lower voice, almost as if dealing with a small child, "We can help Bumblebee. We're here to listen."

That seemed to do it, and the yellow mech's previously bunched up shoulders relaxed, making him seem so much smaller.

A long moment of silence passed, and Sideswipe began to move forward in attempt to console their leader. The soft voice of Bumblebee, however, stopped the red mech in his tracks.

"It's not easy you know? The whole 'leadership' thing." The yellow mech slumped even further onto the crate. "It's just a bit much sometimes."

He went completely silent afterwards, and offered no further hints as to his thoughts. The other three mechs looked at their lieutenant with small frowns.

Grimlock was the first to move, and Bumblebee was startled when he felt large arms envelop him in a hug. Strongarm followed soon after, and Sideswipe as well after a slight hesitation.

A final set of transparent arms completed the hug, and a deep baritone sounded around them.

"I'm proud of you, Bumblebee."

Bumblebee felt his spark warm and smiled.

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 **Any type of feedback is greatly appreciated!**


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